2019 Icebox480

2019 Icebox 480

Lined up for the 7^th Icebox 480 on Nov 2, 2019, my 3^rd time running this event in River Falls, WI. After getting 37mi back in 2015, and 40 last year, this year my plan was to run four of the 7-mile loops and be done.Getting my 40^th marathon or longer finish was my only goal.

Pre-race

At the start, it was 33° (and stayed there the whole day, with some flurries for while later on) and once the faster runners started off, there was a lull with people kind of looking around to see who else would go – so I did. It worked out perfectly, as it soon thinned out after only half a mile!

Loop 1 was somewhat eventful. Ran ‘near’ people for the loop, and followed 3 people off-course. I knew pretty quickly it didn’t look familiar. It was well before the aid station, around 3 miles in? (south-east area of the course/trails), and we seemed to follow the path to the left, with a corn field on our right.We ran around the corn field, then there was a trail arrow (like the others we’d seen, just no red flags at all while we ran) directing us back into the woods. There we saw red flags, coming up from the right, and continuing on to our left, so we kept on going, back on the real trail. At that point, I really didn’t know time-wide when the AS would appear, but came up on it after about 47mins total. I bypassed it (no chips or cookies, and didn’t want skittles). Went thru the downhills and finished lap 1 in 1:13 (within a minute of last year’s loop 1).

Grabbed some snacks (swiss cake rolls!! Chips and a cookie) and headed back out. Didn’t take any more than minute. Spent most of the next 3 laps running solo. I’d see people every now and then through the trees, but never ran with anyone.

Trails were in good shape, but there were a few slick spots. The fall leaves were nice, and got some cool pictures of the trail winding through all the yellow. Lap 2 was the correct trail, and there was an over-abundance of markers at one section (near the tower) that we either had not gotten to that point yet, or was added during lap 1. It was definitely more familiar.

Ran well during lap 2, and started loop 3 after 1:10 (2:24 total). I did take ~4 minutes to fill my bladder with Gatorade, take a pit-stop, use my roller on my thighs, and grab some snacks (more Swiss cake rolls – by far my favorite AS food of the day!).

Lovely colors

Lap 3 – walked more, legs felt a little heavier. Was nice knowing I was only running 4 loops and was more than half-way done. Came in after Loop 3 and spent ~3mins with some more rolling and more snacks. Got back out on the trail after 1:23 (3:48 total).

Last loop, I actually felt a little better. No pains at all, so that was good. Stomach was actually growling at me for food – which doesn’t happen often. Took my GU, and then later on, the Aid station finally had some chips, so that held me until the finish.

Lap finish-chute

Came across the line with a 1:28 loop (within 2secs of my 4^th loop last year) and stopped after 5:15 (about a minute faster than last year).

Thanked the Race Director, got some food (coke, some Excellent grilled cheese, chips, and of course, more Swiss cake rolls!). Have 105 miles in my 3 years running this race, and can see myself coming back here every year. Saw a few younger boys running, and not one young girl. In fact, if my 10 yr old daughter had completed one lap, she would have been first in her age group (20 and under). Maybe next year I can get her out there!

Finished with 28 miles

Start/Finish Aid Station! (SO GOOD!!)

Post-race: Some minor hips soreness the next day and a walk to the library, but was back to normal the following day!

Thanks to some volunteers - have some other photos:

initial conga line-but spaced out quickly!

Always fun! (but being Very careful!)

Out on Loop 3

Loop 4

2019 3rd Black River Trail Classic 50k

2019 Black River Trail Classic 50k.

This was my first race of the year (Oct 19, 2019). The year began with disappointment in my skipping the 9^th Harbison 50k. I had run the first 8, so my streak ended with lingering left ankle/foot and right hamstring pain. After taking a few months of winter off from running, and using our rowing machine more than ever, I started back in late March with some walk/runs around the lake. I didn’t get up to 30+ miles in a week until mid-May. The summer was busy with work-travel and vacation-travel, so that didn’t help e keep my momentum up. I finally chose a new race for me – the Black River Trail Classic 50k, in Millston, WI. The race director knows what he’s doing, and reached out with a personal note and sticker to thank me for trying them out. That was super-nice! This was their 3^rd year and it’s still fairly small, under 60 in the 50k.

So – after finally getting back to Afton for 5 training runs, and getting my mileage back up to 36mi/wk for 6wks, I felt I had done enough to get another finish. I should have done longer runs than just 15.5 miles though.😊

Race day comes around and I woke up at 4am to make the 2:15 drive in time for the 7:30am start. Got my bib, free collapsible cup, sticker, checked out the shirts (bought one afterwards), and hung out until the race started. It was a comfortable 50° at the start, and only went up a couple degrees the whole day.

Once the RD’s adorable daughter said ‘go’, we were off down the road, eventually heading into the forest.

Side note – no one really started when they said ‘go’, so I ended up being first for about 40 yards. Probably first and last time being first in a race!

1st Lake (technically 'Pigeon Creek Flowage)

Sand

Gravel

'Wildcat flowage' about mile 14

So this was basically a flat, slightly overgrown forest/ATV service road. Scenery was nice and the sun peaked out a few times and we passed a couple of lakes. 

We made it to a road and soon turned off into a parking lot to hit the first Aid Station at Mile 5 (in 48:45). I bypassed it as I had my UD vest and a Gu.

Back into the forest, and the ‘road’ turned out to be sand. It wasn’t terribly hard, and not ridiculously soft, but still, it was sand. For miles. And miles. At least it was flat. I knew I could pay for it later, but I kept moving and it eventually turned into a gravel-covered road. Spent more effort trying to find the least-stony path. Miles and miles of that too. 

Finally at Mile 12 we hit another AS(in 1:57 total). Filled my bladder with Gatorade out of my drop bag, grabbed some snacks, and headed out. 

Mi 12 Aid Station

More service roads, and some gravel sections as we headed to the next AS at mile 16.4 (arrived in 2:37).

I had pretty much run the whole race by myself with the exception of a couple of miles early on with 2 females. They were certainly in better shape, but I tried to stay near them before that first AS. (One had just run Chicago Marathon the week before, and the other was in her first ultra, and won her age group I think – awesome on both accounts!)

Anyway – at Mile 16.4, we were on more hiking/biking trails for the 3.6mi Wildcat loop. Ups and downs with some nice views. I think I took a photo at each overlook the whole race! It stayed cloudy, and it finally lightly rained the last 2+ hours.

Mile 20 AS after 3:17 and I had started some walking during that last section. The rest of the race was all pretty similar, some winding trails (all very wide, like it had been all day), some steep ups and steep downs. 

Some nice views, just a few 25k runners shared parts of the trail with us in a few spots, and aid stations at 24(4:08) and the last one at 26.6 (4:52). One AS had moved ~1.3mi, so that had me confused with the mileage for a bit. Total race distance was given as 31.5mi. I had some ab/hip/groin soreness at about mile 25, and was not able to run much after that. I found I could do a shuffle where I didn’t really bend my right leg much, so that worked on some of the downhills. IT band and lower back got sore too. Not sure how much of it was a direct result from the sand…who knows?!

Hit the last steep uphill and had a longish downhill before it flattened out to the finish, still in a light rain. Finish time: 6:06:15. So – pretty typical for me (faster that I expected), and pretty happy with it overall. Had some chili, cornbread, and coke in the warming house, before driving back home.

So –well run event, nice area, state forest really brought me back to some SC/GA races I’ve done – so that was nice. I will likely do another of their “runco”) races – the High Cliff Ultra next year.

Post-race – hips and hamstrings were tender for two days, and then I was perfectly fine. Good, because I have the Icebox480 in 2 weeks (planning on 28mi there).